Now or Never
by halcyon epochs
Summary: "You have five days." -When Remus offers Sirius the chance to win him over, Sirius jumps at it. Now all he needs is a master plan to make Remus fall for him. Little does he know, he may not have to work too hard... Wolfstar, with a little Jily on the side.


**Written for...**

 **Writing Club**

Character Appreciation - 9. Character: Lily Evans **(Both Remus and James are featured.)**

Disney Challenge - Kiss The Girl - Write about an interrupted kiss

Showtime - We Both Reached For the Gun - (word) Understandable

Days of the Month - World Book Day - Write about someone dressing up as a character/cosplay.

Lyric Alley - Do you feel the same when I'm away from you?

Liza's Loves - Simon Says - Write about someone acting strangely.

 **Other Challenges**

Assignment 4 - Potions Task 1 - Write about trying to win someone over

Jewel Challenge - Moonstone Necklace - Write about Remus Lupin

Crafty Cooking - Character: Remus Lupin, Dialogue: "Why do you have so much chocolate in your bedroom?" / "I figured I had to lure you here somehow."

Insane House - 712. Title: Now or Never

* * *

 _"You have five days to woo me, Sirius Black. Five days."_

 _"Five days? That's not enough time!"_

 _"If there's a will, there's a way."_

-:-

Sirius needed a plan. Desperately.

"Mate, calm down," James said as he perused his Quidditch playbook. "You're _way_ overthinking this. Just do your normal thing and he'll fall for you. Simple."

"But it's _Remus_!" Sirius exclaimed, running a hand through his hair with agitation. "He'll be expecting that! I have to do something he's _never_ going to suspect!"

James sighed. He was in for a _long_ week.

-:- **Day One** -:-

Remus found a bouquet of red roses on his plate the next morning, a note attached to the string tying them together.

 _Roses are red, violets are blue_

 _I'd love to be in the same bed as you._

Remus chuckled and glanced at Sirius, who looked up and winked suggestively.

"Nice try."

Sirius deflated. _Time for a Plan B._

-:-

"I have a new plan."

"What is it?"

"It involves chocolate. Lots of it."

"Oh boy."

-:-

There was chocolate everywhere. So much that it gave James a stomach ache by just looking at it.

"Two questions: _when_ did you get all of this, and _why?"_

"I told you, I have a new plan. I skived off History of Magic and went to Hogsmeade."

James pursed his lips. "That's it, I'm staying in Heads' Room tonight," he declared.

-:-

"Why do you have so much chocolate in our bedroom?"

"I figured I had to lure you here somehow."

"Well, as much as I appreciate the effort and the feast I'm going to have for the next _year,_ you still haven't won me over."

"Damn it."

-:- **Day Two** -:-

" _Gone with the Wind,"_ James read aloud, wrinkling his nose. "This is like, super ancient, Padfoot. Are you sure he's going to like it?"

Sirius scuffed the floor with his toe. "The lady at the bookstore told me this was a classic."

"Oh well, it can't be any worse than the chocolates..."

-:-

"...I was wrong."

Sirius struck a pose, stroking his (fake) mustache. "I look _smoking,_ no?" he said in a deep voice.

James facepalmed.

-:-

"What the..." Remus let loose a string of mild expletives as he entered the dorm. "Is this some kind of prank or something?"

"I'm Rhett!" Sirius exclaimed. "From _Gone with Wind!"_ He pointed to another costume laying on Remus's bed. "And you can be Scarlett!"

Remus rolled his eyes. "I'm going back downstairs."

"Please, my dear Moony!" Sirius got onto his knees and clasped his hands pleadingly, staring up at Remus with puppy eyes. "Please, I beg you to humor."

Remus was tempted to say no. This whole idea of cosplay was quite ridiculous. But he couldn't resist Sirius's puppy eyes.

(And he had to admit Sirius _was_ good-looking in his Rhett costume.)

"Fine," he agreed reluctantly.

-:-

"That was fun, actually," said Remus, smoothing down his skirt. "I had no idea you were such a phenomenal actor. You could actually go into show business or something."

Sirius blushed. "Aw, Moonpie, you're flattering me," he said, swooning dramatically.

Remus, though slightly irritated, felt warmth spread through his chest at the endearing sight.

"Don't let it go to your head," he said, masking his pleasure.

-:- **Day Three** -:-

"I wonder what stunt Padfoot is going to pull today," James wondered aloud as he sat down next to Lily at breakfast.

Lily shrugged. "I dunno, maybe he'll act like a damsel in distress."

"Wonderful idea, Lily-billy!" a cheerful voice singsonged. "After all, that's how you fell for Prongs."

Lily choked on her porridge. James looked momentarily stunned, and then realized the love of his life was hacking her tonsils out beside him. He shot Sirius a reproving glare as he whacked her on the back.

"You are _so_ dead," she coughed.

(Because James didn't know yet that she fancied him.)

-:-

"I hear you told James of Lily's feelings for him." Remus sat next to him during Potions.

Indeed, Lily was sending murderous looks at him. Sirius gulped.

"It was an accident!" he defended himself. "Lily suggested I act like a damsel in distress in order to seduce you!"

Now it was Remus's turn to do a double take. Luckily for him, Slughorn made his grand appearance.

"Good morning, everyone!"

Silence.

Undeterred, Slughorn continued jovially, "Today, we will be making Amortentia!"

-:-

"Step Ten: Smell your potion," Remus read aloud.

Sirius leaned over the pot and sniffed loudly. "How peculiar, I smell chocolate," he said, smirking.

Remus swallowed back a lump in his throat. "And?"

"Hmm..." He inhaled again, this time closing his eyes and really separating the individual scents. "Chocolate, and er...new books?"

"Funny, I've never seen you open one," Remus said, his heart thumping harder.

"Now that's just hurtful." Sirius pouted. "How do you think I get good marks? Cheating? Would I ever stoop so low?"

Remus, despite himself, smiled. "Kidding."

Sirius was thrilled by his small success. "What do you smell, Moonpie?" he asked.

"Budge over." He inhaled deeply. "Leather. Gasoline. Rubber."

 _My motorbike,_ Sirius thinks gleefully. _That's what he's smelling._

Sure, there were probably thousands of motorbikes across the world. But Sirius was pretty confident that it was his. How else would Remus have recognized those smells?

-:-

"So I smelled Remus, he smelled me," Sirius informed James blithely the moment they stepped out of the classroom. "That's concrete evidence that we're meant to be! He can't deny it."

James smirked. "Oh, Paddy dearest," he said, patting him on the shoulder, "I figured that out ages ago."

-:-

"So I guess James told you." Remus paced in the girls' dorm. "I smelled Sirius, he smelled me."

"He did tell me." Lily flipped through her textbook. "And?"

"I don't know," he confessed. "I know that's solid proof that we're meant to be, but—"

"But nothing," she interrupted him mid-sentence, looking him straight in the eye, her green eyes glittering with frustration. "You and Sirius are soulmates. That's set in stone. And don't act like we—James and I—don't notice the looks you keep giving him. You obviously have feelings for him, but you're using this bet as some sort of closure. Did I miss anything?"

Remus blinked, taken aback. "I—that's not—I don't have feelings for him!" he sputtered.

"Uh-huh." Lily snorted disbelievingly. "James told me _everything_ —about how you wholeheartedly cosplayed with him, how you carefully arranged the flowers in a vase instead of throwing them out, how you've saved the chocolates even though you have enough to last you until next year. That doesn't exactly scream _platonic."_

Remus blinked hard as a truth struck him. "Oh no," he whispered, pressing his hands to his heart. "I have feelings for Sirius."

-:- **Day Four** -:-

Remus kept evading Sirius the entire day, his ears tinted pink. The two were never seen together, as Remus went out of his way to avoid Sirius. Sirius was bewildered.

"Why is he ignoring me?" Sirius asked James. James, however, shrugged, pursing his lips to withhold a knowing smile. He knew why, but he wasn't about to reveal that.

He asked Lily as well, but she offered the same response. Apparently, she didn't know either.

Finally, he grew tired of the vagueness. He cornered Remus in the corridor after classes were over and confronted him directly.

"Why are you avoiding me?" he questioned, looking concerned. "Is it something I did?"

Remus wanted to tell him the truth. He really, truly did. Sirius was his best friend and the guy he fancied.

So he revealed a partial truth. "It's not you," he mumbled, his face reddening. "It's me."

And promptly darted away.

-:-

They didn't interact for the rest of day.

-:- **Day Five** -:-

Hopelessness.

That was what engulfed Sirius the moment he woke up. Pure, unadulterated despair.

Remus wasn't going to fall for him. Despite everything he had done, it wasn't going to happen. To think, a couple days ago he had been excited about the Amortentia. But no. It had been swiftly quenched.

Sirius dragged himself out of bed, brushed his teeth, and dressed slowly, taking his time to find good clothes. At least he could make one last effort at impressing Remus.

But it was to no avail.

-:-

 _Meet me in the library after classes. I need to talk to you. -RL_

-:-

Sirius's anticipation mounted as well as his hope. Remus needed to talk to him. Maybe he hadn't lost the bet.

The clock seemed to move at a snail's pace. Sirius's eyes darted impatiently between it and Remus throughout the day, unaware of the identical looks the Head Boy and Girl were giving him.

Finally, the end of the day arrived, and Sirius all but sprinted out of Herbology. He knew Remus had Arithmancy in the castle, so he knew it would take him less time to reach the library.

He arrived there in five minutes flat. Understandable, since his eagerness was threatening to overcome him.

-:-

Lily peered through the cracks of the bookshelves. "What do you think they're doing back there?"

James smirked. "Probably snogging."

His theory was confirmed as Madam Pince let out an ear-splitting scream and dashed to the back. A minute later, she came out, dragging two teenage boys, who had swollen lips, mussed hair, and sporting two _very_ guilty expressions.

Or at least, one of them did. The other was feigning shame, but everyone could tell he was brimming with euphoria.

"How _dare_ you!" Madam Pince screeched. "Participating in such defiling behavior! _Banned,_ for the next month! And you can forget checking out books ever again!"

She practically threw them out of the library. She did not notice the other occupants snickering, especially the pair sitting at the table closest to the bookshelves.

"Somehow, I don't think the ban bothers them," Lily giggled.

* * *

 _1622 words_


End file.
